


Hitchcock Movies

by carolinecrane



Series: Aftermath [33]
Category: The Brotherhood 2: Young Warlocks (2001)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-05
Updated: 2011-05-05
Packaged: 2017-10-19 01:09:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/195216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolinecrane/pseuds/carolinecrane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The waiting is the hardest part.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hitchcock Movies

Marcus spends the first day waiting for the phone to ring.  He knows Harlan's not going to call, because he just left Marcus a few hours ago and he said he had business to take care of.  But Marcus waits anyway, alternately pacing his tiny apartment and sitting on the couch, staring at the phone and willing it to ring. 

He gives up sometime after midnight, slowly pulls off his clothes and climbs into bed to stare at the ceiling and try not to think about the fact that the phone's not ringing.  He tells himself it doesn't mean anything, that the fact that Harlan hasn't called just means he's busy.  He's probably still at the office, shouting orders at junior executives or whatever it is he does when there's a problem with a client.

And the image of Harlan in a business suit, bossing around a bunch of terrified underlings is enough to distract Marcus for a little while, but eventually he remembers the reason why he's lying awake in the middle of the night wondering what Harlan's doing.  Because Harlan hasn't called yet, and Marcus hates the fact that he'd give pretty much anything just for a couple minutes of that voice whispering in his ear.  Thirty seconds.  A quick "I can't talk right now, but I'm thinking about you", even.

He shouldn't miss it so much already.  He lived without it for six years, and until a couple days ago he never thought he'd hear it again.  And he was okay with that.  Well.  Not _okay_ so much as resigned, but he'd accepted it, anyway, so it's a little embarrassing how quickly he finds himself addicted again. 

At least he doesn't have to worry that Harlan won't call.  The problem is _when_ , and how he's going to make it until then.

~

On the second day Marcus doesn't wait by the phone.  He gave Harlan all his numbers, so there's no point in sitting around his apartment staring at the phone when he can go into the office and…okay, so he's staring at the phone again, but at least here he can pretend he's working.  It's been a couple days since he checked his messages, anyway, and his secretary doesn't come in to check the mail every day.  So he thumbs through the junk mail in his box, erases a few voicemails – none from Harlan – without really listening to them, and tells himself he's not obsessed.

He's not, he's just…worried.  He tells himself he doesn't have anything to worry about, because Harlan went out of his way to track Marcus down and he wouldn't waste his time if he wasn't still interested.  But there's still that nagging voice in the back of his head telling him that he deserves this, that he put Harlan through six years of uncertainty and if this is Harlan's way of getting him back, he can't really complain.

Only that's not how it felt when they were together, and that's definitely not how it felt when Harlan kissed him goodbye.  It felt like… _something_ , anyway, and even if it's not picking up where they left off, it's a start.  In fact, he'd rather start over than pick up from where they left things back at Chandler, because he was a different person back then and he wants Harlan to know who he is now.

He left behind that scared, insecure kid when he found out for sure that Luc was gone for good, and now he's a successful businessman with his own company and a whole life that doesn't have anything to do with demons or feeling like he's chasing after somebody who's out of his league.  And maybe Harlan never felt that way, but Marcus did, and he wants a chance to prove to both of them that they're in the same league now.

He's pretty sure he started to do that back in  Harlan's hotel room.  He's pretty sure that's what that was – a start – and he's ready for the next part.  Only the phone's not ringing, and when he catches himself thinking about calling Harlan he has to leave the office before he can do anything stupid.

Going home means more staring at the phone, more pretending to work and talking himself out of dialing the number scribbled on a piece of paper in his wallet, so instead he walks down to the Starbucks on the corner.  He orders a tall latte and grabs a table at the back, wishing he'd thought to bring his laptop so he could at least look busy while he's distracting himself. 

Instead he passes the time checking his cell phone every three minutes to make sure it's working.  When he catches himself considering asking the guy at the next table to call him just to make sure it's not broken, he picks up his coffee and heads for the door.

~

By the third day he's really worried.  Worried and a little annoyed, because he's supposed to be working on the sequel to Demon Hunt, and he hasn't gotten anything done in almost a week.  He's spent the morning staring at code, a cup of coffee cooling at his elbow and most of his attention focused on the stubborn silence still lingering in the air.  It's like the whole universe is conspiring against him, because _nobody's_ called in days, so he hasn't even gotten the false hope brought on by one of his friends calling to see what he's up to.

And granted, that's mostly his fault for pretty much shutting everyone out of his life when he moved back to California.  He didn't really mean for it to happen, but coming home dredged up a lot of stuff he'd spent the past few years trying not to think about, and it was easy just to let his old life drift away.  Kind of like he'd done to Harlan six years ago.  But he isn't thinking about that, because Harlan isn't still holding that against him.

He isn't, he's just busy and any second now he's going to call Marcus and spend a few minutes bitching about work before he asks what Marcus is doing.  Then Marcus will pretend to be all wrapped up in his game, but he'll let Harlan distract him and maybe if Marcus is lucky, Harlan will drive down tonight and they can pick up where they left off in the hotel.

Only the phone's still not ringing, and maybe, just maybe, Harlan's not quite over that whole leaving without saying goodbye thing.

~

On the fourth day Marcus almost manages to convince himself he doesn't care.  He's sure as hell not going to pick up the phone and call Harlan, anyway, because he wants to know what's going on, but he's not willing to give up the last shreds of his self-respect to find out.  So he forces his attention back to his game, reading line after line of code without really seeing any of it.  He's supposed to have this part of the game written already, because he needs a workable prototype for the artist by the end of the month and he was already behind schedule before Harlan crashed back into his life. 

So he needs to get this done, but it's even harder to think about the game now that he's told Harlan…well, at least part of the truth.  Because Luc cost them all a lot; he cost Marcus and Harlan six years, cost Matt any real kind of future, and he cost John and Mary their lives, but without Luc there wouldn't be any video game, and Marcus wouldn't be where he is now.

And maybe he would have come up with a best-seller on his own eventually.  Maybe he would even have ended up with Harlan if Luc hadn't come along, but he has a feeling he wouldn't have.  He has a feeling if Luc had never targeted John and the rest of them that he and Harlan would have gone on hating each other, and Marcus would have hung out in John's shadow until they graduated.  He would have gone to MIT and his parents would still be trying to mold him into the perfect son, and Harlan would just be one of those guys who were way out of Marcus' league.

So Luc ruined everything, but in a way Marcus has a lot to thank him for.  It's completely fucked up and he can't help laughing every time he thinks it, mostly because if he didn't laugh about it he really would spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder.  And he doesn't want to live his life that way, especially not now that Harlan's back in it.

Marcus glances at the phone again, groaning when he realizes what he's doing and dragging his attention back to the screen full of code in front of him.  He's got the basic premise of the game fleshed out, built the first two levels in which the hero from the original Demon Hunt goes looking for the demon who was supposed to die in the first game.  He's got the whole storyline outlined on the whiteboard next to his desk, and he knows this game is going to be even bigger than the last one.  He just has to code the damn thing, but it's hard to focus on something as tedious as programming when he's worried about whether or not Harlan's fucking with him.

He's not.  He can't be, because if he is…if he is Marcus deserves it.  He knows that, but it doesn't make the idea of Harlan back in San Francisco, laughing at Marcus' expense any easier to take.  And the worst part is that he can't even do anything about it, because even if he calls Harlan and finds out the truth he can't make Harlan want him again.

Only it sure as hell felt like he still wanted Marcus when Harlan kissed him, and it felt like he meant it when he was buried inside Marcus and chanting his name.  Just the memory is enough to make Marcus' cock stir, and he groans again and runs his hands through his hair.  He's debating whether to force himself to work for awhile longer or blowing it off and giving in to the urge to jerk off when the doorbell rings, and Marcus' heart skips a beat as he pushes his chair back and crosses the room in four long strides.

He tells himself it's not Harlan before he yanks the door open, but that doesn't stop him from being disappointed when he finds himself face to face with a DHL courier.  "Marcus Ratner?"

"Yeah," Marcus answers miserably, taking the pen the courier holds out and signing for a thick envelope.  He mumbles his thanks and swings the door shut, kicking it closed with one foot as he pulls the envelope open and slides out a brown folder.

The name of his company is printed on the cover, and Marcus' heart skips another beat and then sinks when he sees Harlan's name printed below his.  It can't be…but he knows what it is before he opens the folder, and by the time he gets to the bottom of the cover sheet he's already fishing in his pocket for his car keys.


End file.
